Expanding clutch



March 17, 1935. pp 2,034,053

EXPANDING CLUTCH Filed July 5, 1934 INVENTOR ELMER L. LIPP TTORNEY Patented Mar. 17, 1936 EXPANDING CLUTCH Elmer L. Lipp, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 5, 1934, Serial No. 733,789

3 Claims.

This invention relates toimprovements in expanding clutches and more particularly for internal attaching means for tubular structures.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide simple, eflective and easily applied means for permanently attaching objects to the ends of tubes.

The present disclosure is especially adapted to the attachment of ornamental knobs and the like to the ends of upright tubular fence posts with the particular object of reducing costs and improving results.

In this specification the invention is disclosed in its preferred form. It is to be understood,

however, that it is not limited to this form because it may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims following the description.

It has been customary heretofore to ornament tubular fence posts with cast iron ornaments having plug shanks adapted to be driven into the ends of the posts and held by frictional contact. This method entails considerable difliculty due to the variations in the internal diameters of the posts, requiring shims, wedges and other expedients beyond the mechanical skill of the usual labor in this art.

In the interests of economy old boiler tubes, previously used rusty pipe, and similar salvage are used for fence posts. While useful for the purpose such tubes vary in internal diameter, further complicated by the fact that they may be cut to length by sawing in some instances or by means of the conventional rolling cutters which leave an internal burr as shown in the drawing.

In the one sheet of drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a tube having an ornament attached thereto in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail in side elevation of the expansive clutch member.

Fig. 3 is a plan view from below of the same.

Fig. 4 is a detail looking into the base plate of the clutch.

In detail the construction illustrated in the drawing, referring to Fig. 1, comprises the upper end of a fence post i having the inturned burr 2, incidental to the cutting operation above described.

The base plate 8 is flanged downwardly at 4 and depends below the top of the post when applied thereto. The conventional carriage bolt 5 having the head 6 has its square portion I inserted through a square hole at the axis of the base plate. In assembling, the corners 8 of the square portion are swaged downwardly in a female die and clinched against the under side of the plate to fix the bolt into the base plate against turning, see Figs. 1 and 4. The base plate has the radial openings 9 therethrough adjacent 5 the flange 4.

The expansive member has the flange l0 interposed between the top of the post and the base plate 3, beneath the openings 9. In production the center portion of the expansive member is 10 forced downward by dies into the form of a cup. The sides are then slotted at intervals as at H to form the segmental fingers l2 with the inturned ends 12 surrounding a circular center opening. 15

The expanding member comprises the top' [3, having the neck I l struck downward and threaded onto the bolt 5. The top is flanged downwardly to form the cone I5, the taper of which is drawn into the expansive member, the end I2 20 of which is forced outwardly until the-fingers bear against the bore of the tube I, looking the exp-ansive member therein. This operation is accomplished manually by grasping and turning the flange 4 which rotates the bolt 5 in the neck M.

The clutch is permanently locked into the tube by the resilient pawl i 6, segmentally severed from the periphery of the flange l0. It has the offset end ll adapted to engage in any of the adjacent openings 9 to prevent reverse rotation of the 30 base 3.

The acorn knob i3 is fixed to the attaching clutch by means of the cap IS, the flange 20 of which is a drive flt with the flange 4 over which it is forced by pressing. Before assembling the 35 knob, the cap 19 is spot welded to the disc 2| at 22. The edge of the knob is then flanged over the periphery of the disc at 23, after the cap is forced onto the flange 4.

The exposed portions of the knob ornament 40 can be made of noncorrosive material, plated or otherwise treated to prevent deterioration.

The flange 4 being set out from the post I p-revents capillary attraction carrying rain or moisture into the mechanism of the clutch. The increased diameter of the flange 4 also permits the expansive member to be tilted obliquely to the axis of the post until one or more of the fingers l2 engage the cone l5 to hold it against turning while the base 3 is swiveling on the flange I0 50 during the first turning of the bolt 5. The same preliminary efiect can be accomplished by entering the clutch at an angle part way into the tube at first and forcing it inward as the clutch expands to the final setting. 55

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a tube, an expansive member within said tube; a tapered member within said expansive member; a base extending across the end of said tube; a stem fixed in said base and threaded into said tapered member; and ratchet means between said base and expansive member arranged to permanently lock said tapered member within said tube when said base is rotated.

2. In combination with a tube, an expansive member within said tube having a flange overhanging the end of said tube; a resilient pawl formed in said flange a base overlying said flange and engaging said pawl; a stem fixed in said base; and a tapered member within said expansive fixed in said base and threaded into said tapered 10 member; and ratchet means between said base and expansive member; and a cap fixed to said base and enclosing said ratchet means, all combined and arranged toprevent the removal of said expansive member from said tube by reverse ro- 15 tation of said base.

ELMER L. LIPP. 

